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Touring 50 States, an Austin-Healey With Inspiration to Burn

By Carla Baranauckas May 8, 2012 2:22 pmMay 8, 2012 2:22 pm

John NikasGrace at a filling station in McLean, Tex.

When John Nikas rolls into town behind the wheel of a 1953 Austin-Healey called Grace, it doesn’t take long to draw a crowd. Be it at a gas station, scenic overlook or fast-food restaurant, the curious approach with questions. Lots of questions.

“How old is the car?” “Where is he going?” “Why is the car covered in people’s names?”

Mr. Nikas, 43, is driving the battered British roadster around the country this year, with the intention to visit all 50 states, on a tour he calls Drive Away Cancer, which Wheels learned about from a blog post on Hemmings.com. The estimated 50,000-mile effort is a follow-up to a trip Mr. Nikas made with the car from the West Coast to the East Coast and back last summer, which was undertaken to inspire his friend Mike Newsome, the owner of Grace, who received a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.

Mr. Nikas, a vintage car enthusiast from Irvine, Calif., thought he could encourage his friend by restoring the derelict 1953 Austin-Healey 100 that Mr. Newsome had bought sight unseen on eBay years earlier and then taking it on the drive. Mr. Newsome intended to restore the car, but when it arrived in California from Michigan, it became clear that putting the Healey back on the road would be a monumental task, so the car languished in storage.

Members of the Austin-Healey Association of Southern California joined Mr. Nikas in an eight-day push to patch the car together and get it roadworthy. Mr. Nikas then headed for the East Coast, hoping to show Mr. Newsome that if a rusted-out Austin-Healey could keep going after nearly 60 years, Mr. Newsome could keep going, too.

But before his departure, Mr. Nikas handed Mr. Newsome a Sharpie marker and asked him to sign the car. That was the first of what Mr. Nikas said in a telephone interview were 6,500 names covering the car, each a tribute to someone who had cancer, who succumbed to cancer or who survived cancer.

“Whenever people put a name on Grace, it seems to grant them peace,” Mr. Nikas said. “Knowing that the car will continue to go places, it keeps that person alive.”

That the car continues to run is something of a remarkable story in itself. “We’ve probably had four or five mechanical failures that could have been catastrophic,” Mr. Nikas said. His tally did not account for the dozen or so times the car had caught fire. But after each seemingly insurmountable setback, someone stepped in to donate parts and expertise to get Grace back on the road.

Recently, Grace stopped at Hendrix Wire Wheel in Greensboro, N.C., where shop owner Alan Hendrix volunteered to work on the car. “There’s none of us who don’t have somebody, a loved one who’s been through cancer or has passed away from cancer,” Mr. Hendrix told television station WFMY. “It’s an honor. It made my day.”

Far from a luxury ride, Grace has no roof, no heater, no air-conditioner and no radio. The seats are held together with duct tape. Mr. Nikas often finds himself driving through rain or hail with no protection from the elements. One day into the journey and speaking from Bullhead City, Ariz., Mr. Nikas said his return to the road was not exactly a pleasant one. “It’s much harder now,” he said. “She’s just beaten me up a little today. I had forgotten how hot it is and windy and uncomfortable.”

Mr. Newsome is progressing with his cancer treatment, Mr. Nikas said. Propelling the driver forward on what he describes as his Forrest-Gumpian endeavor are the personal stories connected to the names written on the car.

“We had one man literally just hug the car for half an hour before he signed the car,” Mr. Nikas said. The man wrote a note to his brother who died of cancer at age 3. The note says, “I wish I had told you how much I loved you when you were here.”

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